[Teddyi]

I am new to the sport of Schutzhund and wonder if those of you who have been around the sport can answer some questions. (This post started out as a few questions and quickly became an epic. My apologies for those of you who can make it through my post.)

To give you some background, I have found a club close to my house. I went by on Sunday to watch everyone train. I brought my 4-1/2 month old puppy with me (they encouraged me to bring him) and we stayed for almost the entire day (about 5 hours). I liked the training director and his wife very much. They seemed to be very nice people and the TD really seems to have a good feel for what he does. It was hard to tell anything about the other club members because they were busy training their dogs. As I was only a guest spectator, we didn’t have much interaction.

So, here are my questions:

Should I keep my puppy crated for the majority of the time we are at the training field or should I let him be with me to watch? Last Sunday, I kept him with me for the entire day and he loved meeting all of the people and watching the protection work, but it was a really long day for him. With the hour drive each way and the seven hours or so that the clubs trains, it’s a very long and tiring stretch for him. He was wiped out at the end of the day Sunday. I just don’t want to overdo it.

How much time do you spend working with a 4 – 6 month old puppy each day? I presently do a few 5 minute sessions of reward based OB work with my pup. We only work on puppy basics like sitz and platz. I also do small amounts of prey drive work every day. Usually one 5 – 10 minute session of rag work or tug work a day. This work consists of him chasing a towel and then letting him win the towel. I let him carry it away after he’s won. I’m also doing a little tug play with him. He’ll bite the rag and I’ll lightly pull on it. When he counters well, I let him have the rag. I really don’t know what I’m doing so I wonder if this is enough? Not enough? Should I be doing something different?

Which leads me to another question about the rag work. I find that in order to keep the rag away from my pup, I have to whip the rag around so fast that he’s literally flying through the air in his frenzy to get it. Is this okay? Or should I switch to a tug now? If I use a tug would a small tug moved with my hand be better than a medium tug swung around on a rope? And after he’s “won” the rag or tug and has had a chance to savior his victory, what’s the best method to get it away from him. He’s very territorial over it and will either hold it or chew on it, but never really let it out of his mouth. Is it okay to trade for another item? Try to entice him with a second rag/tug? Or lift him by his collar to make him drop it with an “Aus” command?

We also play with regular toys in the yard. (The rags and tugs are kept hidden away and only brought out for prey work.) Is it okay to have him play with regular squeaky balls and toys the rest of the time? Are stuffed squeaky toys okay? I throw a medium sized soft squeaky ball for him and he loves it. He’s also crazy for a basketball and a rope tug toy. There must be twenty toys in the yard and another twenty in the house of varying sizes and types. Is this okay?

I use a regular flat leather collar. We got to do a little puppy prey work at the club on Sunday. I was holding my pup on a leash and he was lunging at the tug. This may sound ridiculous, but I worried about his neck and throat. Is it safe to have him on a flat collar for this type of work, or should I use a harness? He also was lunging and leaping trying to play with other dogs when we got to the club. It was all puppy play and I kept a tight leash on him, but I again worried about his neck. He really does hit the end of his leash very hard. Should I not worry?

I would like to title this dog myself and wonder if that’s a realistic goal being that I have never done this before. I am also concerned that I may hinder my puppy’s training because I am so new at this and I know that mistakes will be made. From what I have heard and read, a good prospect can be ruined rather easily and I don’t want to do that. I have been reading books on Schutzhund and tracking, and have purchased several videos on Schutzhund as well. It’s all fascinating and I'm having fun learning, but it’s very difficult to try to train a dog when you don’t really know what you’re doing. Is it this way with everyone, or do most people know what they’re doing before trying to train a dog for Schutzhund?

And lastly, because Schutzhund clubs have very definite rules and ways of doing things, can anyone give me some basic etiquette so that I don’t put my foot in my mouth? (I’ve already done it twice and I’ve only been there once.) It may be inevitable that I blow it at some time or another, but I’d like to keep that to a minimum. Any hints would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

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